1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an intelligent automatic reconfiguration method and apparatus for network system and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for intelligent automatic reconfiguration which involves in implementing an automatic reconfiguration apparatus for storing configuration of network devices of an Ethernet system and automatically loading a new network device with the stored original configuration when replacement of the network device occurs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an Ethernet LAN system, for instance, many mutually connected and stacked network devices, such as a hub, a switch hub, a bridge, and Wireless Access Points (AP), are usually included. Such devices are on the one part connected to the Internet through a server or a router, while on the other part are connected to network terminals such as computers, so as to allow the terminals to transmit data or connect to the Internet through the network devices.
It is imaginable that considerable manpower and time would be consumed by fault diagnosis in a large-scale network system. Conventionally, the problem is addressed by adding a Network Management Server (NMS) in a network system. The Network Management Server contains specific network management software and is compatible with Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). It monitors network status of the network devices on the strength of SNMP, and if errors were observed in any network devices, alarm would be sent to a network administrator, thereby allowing the administrator to examine and then remove the errors. Generally, network administrators would replace the erroneous device with a backup device, so that the network system could be restored to normal as soon as possible.
However, in the aforesaid technique, once an original device is replaced with a new device or an additional device is added, the administrator has to reconfigure the new device manually. This reconfiguring process may not only consume a lot of time and effort, but also bear risk of system disturbances resulted from failing to reconstruct the original configuration on the new device.